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Date night: the 5 truths we'd never admit

When two become three, it's important to get some quality time together as a couple. Just a few snags, though...

Once you have a new baby, you might well find concerned friends and family members asking if you and your other half have managed to get a 'date night' in the diary yet.

And while we totally agree that date nights are a lovely idea, there are just a FEW things no one admits about them...

1. They can cost more than a mini-break to Ibiza

For the sake of making the most of things, you might just choose to splash out on something a bit fancier than a Nando's for date night, and, if you really want to make the most of it, you may follow dinner with something else, like a movie or a theatre trip.

And if you don't have the grandparents close by and you're relying on a paid babysitter, we're talking what could be a pretty pricey night. Purse feeling a bit lighter?

2. There's a lot of pressure to have an AMAZING time

As date nights don't come round as often as they used to, and spontaneity is altogether a thing of the past, there's suddenly a lot weighing on this date night thing.

This can be tricky because, as it's often been planned a fair few weeks in advance, it's always possible that you're actually not really in the mood for a night out on that particular evening (especially if you've been up and down like a yo-yo with a feeding/teething baby the night before).

You love your other half dearly but you do quite fancy an early night with a cup of hot choc.

No can do of course: this has been on the cards for a while, so you need to enjoy Every. Single. Minute. No big deal then...

3. You make a pact not to talk about the baby... but end up TOTALLY talking about the baby

We're not saying that, once you have a baby together, all other topics of conversation go out the window but, the truth is, there's simply no one else in the world who finds your baby quite as fascinating as you do – except your partner.

So when you do finally get the chance to have more than a 3-minute chat between feeds, nappy changes and housework, it's no surprise you might want to compare notes on how utterly adorable your offspring is.

4. You might start falling asleep in your pudding

By the time you've left the house (after giving full-blown instructions to the babysitter and shown her where EVERYTHING is in case of emergencies), had a drink at the bar and eaten you first 2 courses, pudding seems to come around at midnight.

Well, it's actually 8.30pm but, seeing as you got up waaaaaay before 6am, your timings are a little off these days.

And of course, once your belly's full of ice cream, it really is time for the zzzzs.

5. You've never been so happy to get to bed

Once a baby arrives, sleep becomes the holy grail. In fact, you can draw a very accurate bar graph of how many uninterrupted minutes of blissful shut-eye you've had over the last week, and it usually amounts to NOT NEARLY ENOUGH.

So when you do manage to get out for a date night and you're in bed 3 hours later than your usual bedtime you are, quite frankly, knackered.

But you know what? Yes, it's an expensive hassle to organise and, yes, the lack of sleep/hangover hits you for six in the (baby-waking-predictably-early) morning – but just connecting with your partner again, chatting away about the big and little things in life, just the two of you, does feel kind of nice.